Fishing lures of the type embodying a rigid spoon portion and a flexible tail portion have been used by fisherman for many years, which fishing lures are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 216,894 issued to J.A. Arbogast on Aug. 8, 1939 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,238,292 issued to E.C. Schavey on Apr. 15, 1941.
Although this type of fishing lure is widely used, these patents illustrate shortcomings which considerably affect the effectiveness thereof. The patent to Arbogast, for example, discloses a fishing lure in which the skirt thereof can be located far behind the hook, with the result that the fish bite the skirt and not the hook. This arrangement also results in a great deal of drag, and less wobble of the spoon, which is an important factor in attracting fish.
Schavey illustrates a common way of attaching the skirt to the spoon, although, with present fishing lures, the skirt is threaded on the hook, which is bolted to the spoon. One of the main problems with this arrangement is that the skirt lies on top of the spoon, and the fish are below the spoon, since these spoons are designed to pass through the water with the hook facing upwardly to avoid entanglement with weeds. Additionally, the skirt will not act to maintain the spoon in a hook up position.